One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Frederick it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant mimulus.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

Frost tolerance for mimulus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant mimulus until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Frederick is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant mimulus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Frederick. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Frederick is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Frederick last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your mimulus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Frederick

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Frederick

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Frederick.